


Can You Make Me Pretty?

by lordavon



Category: Deadpool - All Media Types, Spider-Man - All Media Types, spideypool - Fandom
Genre: Cosmetics, Fluff, M/M, Meet-Cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-02
Updated: 2019-10-02
Packaged: 2020-11-10 15:49:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20854301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lordavon/pseuds/lordavon
Summary: Peter Parker works at a MAC Make-up store and when Wade comes in looking for help, Peter's determined he'll leave the store feeling beautiful.Based on Spiderkatana's MAC make-up store prompt on the Isn't It Bromantic? discord. With thanks to Timid Turnip for Alpha Reading!Now with art from ArtWolf!





	Can You Make Me Pretty?

Theatre Arts had been a useful minor in college, as strange as it seemed amongst his friends in science lab, most of whom had chosen a second science as their minor; picking up theatre taught him a useful set of skills as a super-hero. How to sew. How to alter his voice and his body language. How to profile people. His super suit looked fabulous after everything he’d learned during costuming class. Even the make-up class had been useful for helping him sculpt his mask. 

When it turned out being a lab tech after college didn’t really cover the bills for him and his Aunt as much as he’d hoped, and grad school was much more expensive than he could afford, having a second job working part-time at a local MAC Make-Up store ended up covering the gap and was more fun than he’d expected. Plus, he got a discount and he privately thought he looked damn good in the make-up he wore to work.

He was the only man at the counter but the women he worked with were thrilled to have him; his boss said their male clientele had gone up since he joined the team. Most of the men who came through already knew what they wanted and rarely needed him to do the “How to put on make-up” class. When he’d get someone transitioning or just coming out of the closet who needed the help, though, he loved how their eyes would light up when they realized they could speak to a man.

The little door chime rang, and a man walked in, hoodie pulled up, layered under a jacket, tight t-shirt, slim jeans and boots; definitely a first timer from the way he looked around hunched in on himself. Which was a crying shame because it was clear the guy worked out and he really ought to be showing off that chest and those shoulders more. He walked over to Peter’s station hesitantly, not lifting his head, and said, “Okay, I know the answer’s no, because I have tried all sorts of things, but – can you make me pretty? Prettier? Less revolting?”

He lifted his head and pulled the hoodie down, and Peter flinched, taking a step back. The scarring was terrible. From the nearby counter stations he could hear gasps, and the guy nervously ducked his head again. “Yeah, I know it’s not possible. Sorry, I’ll just go. Don’t know what I was thinking.” He started to pull up the hood and Peter reached across the glass, catching the man’s wrists, and stopped him.

“Honey, look at me.” He waited until the man’s blue eyes met his again. “Of course I can make you pretty,” he said. “Sit down.”

Gingerly, the man sat down, and Peter let go of his wrists to walk around the counter and get a closer look. “What’s your name, hon?” he asked, gently taking the man’s chin and nudging his face one way and then the other, getting a sense for how the light hit his features, and really hoping he was projecting confidence and reassurance.

“Wade.”

“Hi Wade, I’m Peter. Have you worn make-up before?”

“For Halloween as a kid?”

Pretty common answer from his male clients. “All right. I’m gonna ask you some questions and I’m sorry I’ve got to be a bit more personal than I normally would with a client, but I haven’t worked with skin like this.” He ran his fingers over Wade’s cheeks, forehead, getting a feel for how bad the ridges actually were versus what they looked like, heart sinking at the levels of raised and pitted skin. He couldn’t just smooth it out, not that he’d thought that was really going to be an option, but he had hoped. Wade shivered as Peter felt his skin, and Peter wondered how often anyone touched him. “Is your skin normally oily or dry? Do the scars stretch a lot or do have a lot of pull in them? Do they ever flake? These aren’t like a lot of scars I’ve seen. Here, make some faces for me, I want to see how your skin moves.”

The barrage of questions seemed to calm Wade down, and Peter made all sorts of exaggerated expressions for Wade to mimic, watching how the scarring flexed as he did. It was better than he expected; Wade had a lot of expressiveness to his features and solid bone structure. “Um, it’s dry and oily together? And they can flake. And I guess stretch?”

Peter leaned back against the counter. “Okay, I’m going to tell you up front so there’s no surprises, what I can’t do is hide the scarring.” Wade deflated a little. “But you knew that already. However! I did mean what I said, though; I can make you pretty. So!” He clapped his hands together. “Ready?”

Wade stared at him. “Maybe?”

“I’ll take it.” He turned Wade’s chair towards the mirror on his station. “Now, tell me one feature you like about your face.” He watched Wade wince as the mirror magnified his features. His own self-loathing for his appearance was evident. Peter gave him a moment, ducking behind the counter again to start gathering up supplies.

“Nothing. I look like I went through a blender.”

“Hey.” Peter leaned on the glass. “Listen, I promise you everyone in this room has stuff they hate about how they look.” He looked around, and since there weren’t any other customers at the moment, he asked, “Right? Anyone?”

“My left eye is larger than my right eye.”

“I so hate my nose it’s not funny.”

“My eyebrows are caterpillars!”

Wade looked around and then at Peter. “You can’t possibly – “

Peter shrugged. “I have boring brown eyes and I look too young. I hate getting carded all the time, but no one ever believes my age.”

“It’s not the same.”

“I’m just telling you, everyone’s insecure. Now, look in the mirror, find something you like, honey.”

Wade turned and stared back into the mirror. “I guess…I don’t really hate my eyes. Least damaged part of me.”

Peter figured that would be the answer, although he was a bit disappointed; personally, he thought Wade’s lips were made to be kissed. “Perfect! Favorite color?”

Wade turned away from the mirror. “Red.”

“Shade?”

“Uh, red?”

“Hmmm. Okay, look in the mirror again.”

With a bit of uncertainty, Wade looked back in the mirror. “So, let me tell you what I see. That jawline is perfect,” Peter moved behind Wade, tapping his fingers on the man’s jawbone. “Your cheekbones are model-worthy.” He ran his thumbs over Wade’s cheeks. “Your nose is straight, well-proportioned, and even without eyebrows the brow line itself is nice. Your eyes probably are your best feature, and I know people who would kill for eyelashes like yours.”

Wade was gaping in the mirror, trying to see this description of himself. “Really?”

“Really. I’m betting if you give people a chance, they’ll see past the scars. What we’re going to do is help make that easier. And the best way to do that is give them something else to focus on – in your case, your eyes, since that’s the part of you that you like the best.” 

He looked back at Peter. "Okay."

Peter moved the mirror. "We'll see what you think at the end. First, moisturizer. Oh, almost forgot, are you using any right now?" Wade nodded. "All right we'll just do a thin layer then. Always moisturize before and after you wear makeup; it's very drying." He began to spread a light layer of moisturizer over Wade’s face, along his neck and up over his scalp. Wade was tense at first, but Peter went slow and gently and soon enough Wade relaxed, enjoying the sensation. He startled when Peter took his hands away.

Peter pulled out his set of skin tone gels and started holding them up to Wade’s face. “What are those?” Wade asked. 

“Trying to figure out how I’m going to do your skin tone. See, with me,” he flipped open to his tone and held the clear plastic to his face, “It just fades out and that’s how I know it’s my base color. With you,” he went back to flipping through gels, “the scars are so vivid it gives you a lot more color in your face than normal and I’m trying to decide what’s your most common tone.” He tried a few more. “I’m gonna use something to tone down the highlights from the scarring, basically, so that they won’t draw the eyes as much.” He tried two he thought worked and nodded. “Okay honey, close your eyes.”

He gently sponged the base onto Wade’s face, trying to keep it light and out of the dips and crevices of the scarring. He didn’t want to wash out the deeper colors of the scars and turn Wade’s face too flat because then it would look unnatural; as freaky as the scars were, they at least looked like skin. 

“Okay, you can open your eyes again,” he said, reaching for his brushes. “I’m going to give you what we call a natural look with a bold eye. Everything I’m using is a gel, a liquid, or a cream. That’s important because it’s easier on your skin. Do not use powders, honey, no matter how much you want to; they’re more drying.”

He held up a few neutral blush tones in the darker ranges. “A base coat evens out your face, takes out the natural contours, so you have to use blush and eyeshadow and so on to add them back in. These bronze tones…there’s still a lot of red in your face and I’m betting you like to wear red when you’re feeling good about yourself since it’s your favorite color?” Wade nodded, a look of fascination in his eyes as he listened to Peter’s patter. “Okay, so I’m choosing your colors based on that assumption. They’ll still work with blacks and grays like you’re wearing, but you can use them with reds, too.” As he spoke, he ran his fingers along Wade’s cheeks then brushed in the blush. “If I’m touching too much, I’m sorry, but it’s easier to feel where the make-up goes.” He picked up a lighter shade and added some highlighting to cheekbone, using his fingers to blend the two carefully together before repeating on the other side. Then he ran a little of the darker color on the underside of Wade’s jaw. 

“Why are you putting blush there?” Wade asked, looking confused.

“Definition. Helps define the jawbone. Using the same color makes you like more natural.” He stepped back to consider Wade’s face critically and then held up an array of pencils to Wade’s lips. “Lip liner. Hold still, hon.” He outlined Wade’s lips in a color barely a shade darker than his skin, trying not to think about how much he wanted to kiss them. “I’m just going to put a stain on them instead of a full lipstick since we don’t want to give people too much to focus on. It’s lighter and just adds a little tint.” He drew the wand over Wade’s lips a little more slowly than he possibly should have; a little bit of teasing wouldn’t hurt and if the man knew Peter was finding him attractive it would be as strong a boost to his confidence as the make-up would be.

Wade blinked up at him and took a deep breath, just watching Peter’s face as he worked. Peter stopped to smile reassuringly at him. “I don’t want to brag, but you’re looking good so far.” He grinned as Wade blushed faintly. That was a good reaction, and Peter started to think he was going to pull this off. “All right, for your eyes. Nice and bold, so everyone wants to look there. Look up for me. This part tends to freak people out the first time, but I promise I will not poke your eye out, okay?”  
Once Wade nodded Peter took a black eyeliner to outline the outer edges to about the center of his eyes, going a little further towards his nose on the upper lid. He was impressed as how easily Wade sat still, not flinching back from the pencil. “Oh, you’re doing really well, hon.” He held up a few eyeshadows to Wade’s face. “What made you decide to try make-up today?”

Wade blushed faintly again. Damn, it was adorable, and Peter just wanted to cuddle him, but also sad that such basic little compliments evoked blushing. Did he have no one who made him feel good? “I wanted to show someone my face for the first time and I wanted him to at least think I made an effort to not be revolting.”

Peter frowned. “Honey, you aren’t revolting. The scars are startling and take a bit of getting used to, but I assure you, you are already beautiful. Just don’t tell my boss I said that because I’m supposed to sell you make-up.” He grinned and Wade gave him a hesitant smile, the first one since he’d walked in. It lit up his whole face, even as uncertain as it was, and Peter was hooked. “And if this guy doesn’t appreciate you, then he isn’t worth it, make-up or no. Close your eyes for me.” Peter started to smudge on a deep reddish mahogany eyeshadow and blended it into a darker black shadow. 

“Oh, lovely. Okay, open up again.” He grinned as Wade was starting to smile with each little compliment, even if he still blushed. He stepped back to look Wade over and nodded. “All right, just some mascara, and I’ll let you decide what you think. Look up again for me.” He brushed a simple black mascara over Wade’s eyelashes. “So how come this guy hasn’t seen your face yet? Someone you met online?” 

Wade nodded. “Something like that.”

“Well,” Peter said as he put the wand away, “If it doesn’t work out, you call me, okay? Now.” He pulled the mirror over and flipped it to normal instead of magnifying. “Close your eyes.”

Wade shut his eyes and Peter turned the chair to face the mirror. “You ready?” he asked and waited until Wade nodded. “Okay honey, take a look and tell me what you think.” He stepped back, and took a deep breath, really hoping Wade would think he looked pretty. The guy deserved to feel good about himself.

Wade opened his eyes. As he caught his reflection, he leaned forward with a surprised gasp. Peter leaned against the counter, trying not to fidget, and throughout the store he could see the other employees watching just as nervously as he felt. Wade turned his face back and forth, examining himself from every angle. “Holy fuck,” he whispered. Peter swallowed.

“Is that good or—eek!” Peter cut off as Wade spun in the chair and tackled him into a hug.

“I didn’t think you could actually make me pretty!” he whispered. 

“Hey now, honey, I told you; you’re already pretty, I was just making it easier to see.” 

Wade shook his head, hugging him again. This wasn’t the first time Peter had been hugged by a customer, but it was one of the more enjoyable ones; Wade’s happiness was infectious and this close those muscles felt really good. “Okay, this is really nice, hon, but you should probably let go before my boss fires me.” Wade released him and went back to looking at his face in the mirror. 

“Whatever all that is – put it in a bag and I’ll buy every piece. And please, please, please include instructions.” Wade pulled out his wallet and just handed Peter a card.

Peter grinned, starting to assemble everything. “This is a product sheet. It labels everything you’re buying so if you want to get the same stuff you can hand this to any one of us and we’ll know what you use. And this is a set of instructions I made since a lot of my customers don’t know how to put on make-up and most tutorials online assume you’re female and know what you are doing.” He bagged everything up and rang Wade out, amused when he didn’t even blink at the price. “And this,” he added, writing his number across the receipt with several large hearts, “is my phone number and I promise you, if this guy doesn’t react well, you call me, and I will happily go out with you, honey.” He blew Wade a kiss, grinning at the blush. “And if it does go well, you call me when you get married and I’ll come do your make-up for free.”

Wade stammered out something that sounded like ‘thank you,’ as he took his bag and the receipt, bear-hugged Peter again, and headed out the door. Outside, he started to raise the hoodie, then slowly dropped his hands and walked off, leaving it down.

** Epilogue **

Deadpool sat down on the edge of the roof next to Spider-man, holding a bag of tacos. “Hey Webs,” he said, holding onto the bag. 

Spider-man tilted his head. “This is new. Food and you aren’t sharing?”

“Actually, I wanted to! Share. I mean eat. With you. I mean. Is that okay?” he blurted out in a rush, and Peter tilted his head the other way. This was new; Deadpool had never shown interest in eating with him before. He just showed up most nights with foods, declared that Spider-man was clearly not eating enough, and handed over take-out.

“I’m pretty sure you bought the food, so you’re allowed to eat.”

He thrust the bag at Peter. “Just – yeah. Don’t throw up or anything.” Deadpool took a breath as he reached up and carefully pulled the mask from his head.

Spider-man stared. Wade had tried make-up just for him? He leaned forward to look at Deadpool, feeling so happy and warm in his chest he was sure his heart was melting. He set the bag to the side, and reached to lift Wade’s chin, pulling off his own mask at the same time. “Damn, honey, you’re gorgeous,” he said, and kissed him before he could think better of it.

Deadpool pushed him back, holding onto his shoulders to stare into his face. “Peter?” he asked. “You – you’re –”

Peter nodded. “Yup!”

“But –”

“Yes?”

“But – You – I mean…”

“Wade.” Peter reached up and brushed gloved fingers over Wade’s mouth. “It’s really sweet you did this just for me. But I promise, you were pretty before the make-up.” He smiled into Wade’s eyes. “Now shut up, honey, and kiss me.”

Wade started to smile, and gave Peter a long, gentle kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> I have deep opinions about make-up. I studied theatre in college and my specialty is make-up design; when Spiderkatana posted this prompt in the discord my mind immediately started churning through ideas on how to make Wade freaking Wilson feel pretty. Not look pretty, because of course no make-up can do that for you. I am often heartbroken listening to women I know casually discuss how vile they look without make-up on and how they could never go outside without make-up, when they are perfectly lovely and wonderful people and they look perfectly wonderful just as they are. Make-up is a tool, not a mask; it enhances, never creates.
> 
> The only time I've worn make-up for work was when I worked at a make-up counter, and I was surprised how many customers would tell me I was unlike any consultation they'd ever had. Apparently theatre majors ask things like, "What kind of lights do you work in?" "What kind of job do you do and what kind of image do you need to project?" as opposed to things like, "Is your skin oily or dry?" or "With that hair and those eyes you're clearly a summer...."
> 
> Amusingly, I was a top seller.
> 
> (OMG I got fanart!!!! SQUEEE!!)


End file.
